&lt;quote&gt; Medical marijuana advocate Mark Steinkamp, 42, is considering joining the fall race for the Palo Alto City Council to campaign for more compassion. "The whole issue of compassion is going to be my primary platform," said Steinkamp, who took out nomination papers this week. "I think we need that in Palo Alto." Steinkamp, a strong supporter of using marijuana for medicinal purposes, is a self-employed insurance broker who works with homeless people and Stanford patients. Last August, he offered to become a medical marijuana agent for the city of Palo Alto, to make the drug available to research patients at Stanford--an offer the city declined. A former medical marijuana user, Steinkamp considers himself an advocate for the homeless and children's rights. On Monday night, he brought his two daughters to the City Council meeting to request more playground equipment and increased hours at city-run swimming pools. &lt;/quote&gt;

Posted by Not Cool - Sad Story
a resident of Charleston Meadows
on Dec 2, 2012 at 7:10 am

This is just all around sad. Obvious that poor decisions were made and PA Onlne should be proud they were able to share the misfortunes of oters with the community,...because the two people involved don't have enough to deal with.

Posted by homeless
a resident of Community Center
on Dec 2, 2012 at 10:01 amhomeless is a registered user.

Cannot believe the world we live in today. 'False imprisonment ' is a serious charge itself; blocking person's freedom of movement . And this PA man works with homeless ? Doing what? And what was he doing in S.S.F. with a knife in his pocket? He clearly is a predetor. Homeless are often used as an excuse for the the 'ills' of society. So far PA has not criminalized vehicle dwellers, thank you for city council and palo alto police for not doing so. There could be serious consequences for example let's assume the following: city council decides vehicle dwellers must park 2-3 cars on specific parking lots! That sounds like a 'False Imprisonment ' .. and worse... a Predetor... appears...and something bad as in this article appears, the woman was confined in the motel room; her freedom of movement was restricted. Don't know who this suspect is; but hopefully he sits in jail for a long time.This is domestic violence carried into S.S.F. motel room away from unsuspected neighbors. There is something to learn from this editorial , which is; no one really knows who the real criminals are. It could be anyone... and I hope this ' dude' does not get away easy and stays far away from vulnerable homeless . Everyone needs equal protection of laws.